It will be rather hard to restore the flow of tourists in the context of the second wave of the coronavirus, and so the investments in the tourism sector will be targeted at increase of the quality and accessibility of infrastructures. This is what Armenia’s Economy Minister Tigran Khachatryan said during today’s discussion on the draft of the 2021 State Budget held as part of the joint session of the Standing Committees on Financial-Credit and Budgetary Affairs and on Economic Affairs in parliament.

According to him, investments will be made for roads, cultural heritage monuments and more.

“No matter how much Armenia spends in 2021, it won’t be able to restore the flows of tourists since the external environment has seriously changed, but the government won’t cut its expenses in the sector,” the minister said and stressed that it is currently impossible to postpone the implementation of programs in the tourism sector. He also recalled that as a result of the first wave of the coronavirus, 60% of the turnover of companies providing services (travel agencies, public food outlets, hotels and transport organizations) has decreased, and jobs have been cut by 30%. Khachatryan added that this trend could have continued, if it wasn’t for the implementation of the government’s support programs.